7 Essential Ingredients for Your Portable Natural First Aid Kit

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While it’s great to be prepared for any eventuality with a whole host of herbs for your basic home remedy kit, what happens when you’re out and about? Whether it’s a road trip, a day out foraging, a camping vacation, or a trip to the beach, we strongly recommend that you prepare a portable natural first aid kit. There’s always some risk of accident or injury, so keep a portable first aid kit in your backpack, bag, or vehicle, just in case. Aside from the eye-rollingly obvious items like gauze dressings, bandages, and medical tape, here’s the top ingredients we recommend for your herbal first aid kit.

1 – Lavender Oil

Lavender oil has been in use for thousands of years, for a whole variety of ailments. When inhaled, it has a soothing, calming, and relaxing effect. When used on the skin, it has analgesic properties.

Insect Bites and Stings – Simply apply a single drop of lavender essential oil to the insect bite or sting. It quickly soothes the pain and irritation.

Mild Shock and Anxiety – Because lavender has calming and soothing properties, it’s a great natural remedy for anxiety and mild shock. Just inhale the scent for a minute or two. You can place a few drops on a handkerchief or inhale directly from the oil bottle.

Cuts and Wounds – Lavender has antiseptic properties, as well as acting as a natural painkiller. Dissolve six drops in a cup of warm water and use it to bathe wounds, cuts, or abrasions. It will clean the area, help prevent infection, ease pain, and promotes healing.

Headaches – Again, just inhale the scent and its soothing and analgesic properties will lift a headache or a migraine.

2 – Arnica

Another natural remedy with a long medicinal history. Arnica is most commonly associated with relieving anxiety, mild shock, and depression. As arnica also promotes rapid healing and has analgesic properties, it’s also great for:

3 – Aloe Vera

All of us should have a few aloe vera plants growing around the house. With so many health benefits, it’s definitely worth keeping an aloe vera preparation in your natural first aid kit. Once removed from the leaf, the gel needs to be refrigerated. However, if you carefully remove a leaf from the plant, you can store this in an airtight container in your first aid kit for a day or two.

4 – Tea Tree Oil

A potent antiseptic, tea tree oil is a must-have for any natural first aid kit. Dilute six drops in warm water and bathe cuts, wounds, and abrasions. It’s soothing, too, so, diluted or used as an ointment, it eases skin irritation and discomfort.

5 – Comfrey

Like all the other ingredients on this list, comfrey, also known as knitbone, has been in use for its medicinal properties for literally thousands of years. A comfrey ointment preparation is a great choice for inflamed wounds, skin irritation, bruises, and burns. While it shouldn’t be used on open wounds, comfrey ointment eases pain, reduces inflammation, and encourages the fast growth of new cells for rapid healing. You can just use the crushed leaves in an emergency.

6 – Honey

Honey is a staple for treating minor burns, helping to prevent infection and encourage faster healing when applied directly to the injured area. It works well for coughs and respiratory irritations, too, when taken neat or with hot water.

7 – Ginger

We recommend keeping some fresh or even dried ginger in your natural first aid kit, because it works well for reducing nausea and digestive discomfort. If you like the heat, peel and chew a small portion of the root. Otherwise, peel half an inch of ginger root and add it to a cup of hot water with a dash of honey.

And, to help in the event that a nasty cold strikes, which, as we all know, can be thoroughly miserable, make sure you’ve at least got some garlic or echinacea to hand. Need some more cold remedies? Check out the article from Positive Health Wellness about preventing colds naturally.

What other natural remedies do you swear by for your portable first aid kit? Keep your eyes peeled for our recommendations for your essential home remedy kit, too!

Thank you!

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